


Tsubaki

by tsumekakusu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Flowers, M/M, Minor Angst, Not So Secret Admirer, Oblivious Asahi, hanakotoba, small misunderstanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 08:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14374614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsumekakusu/pseuds/tsumekakusu
Summary: "What's your favorite flower?"





	Tsubaki

“Asahi-san!”

He’s gotten used to that loud voice in particular, and he turns with a small smile to see the shorter boy bounding over to him with a smile a thousand times brighter than his.

“What’s your favorite flower?”

His eyebrows furrow as he struggles to come up with an answer. He’s never had to think about that before.

The libero continues to smile up at him, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“What do you think it is?” Asahi answers with a question, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck.

Noya continues to stare up at him, making the taller boy avert his eyes. “Sorry I asked, you don’t have to-”

“Camellias!”

“What?” Asahi’s eyes widen as they snap to meet Noya’s.

“Camellias!” Noya shouts again, his smile somehow widening.

“Um... Why?” Asahi asks, not sure of how else to answer. He holds back the urge to ask if it’s because he has long hair, since he’s only ever heard camellias mentioned when people talk about hair products.

“I don’t know. I just think it fits you!” Noya exclaims, before running back to join the second years.

“Okay...?” Asahi shakes his head. Every time he talks with Noya, it feels like a tornado swept in, jumbled up his thoughts, then left with his heart and soul.

“You okay there, Asahi?” Suga calls from in front of him.

“Yeah.” He jogs to catch up with his fellow third years.

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked him out yet,” Daichi grins, nudging Asahi in the ribs.

“It’snotthateasy,” Asahi mutters, turning to hide his blush.

“Do you need any help?” He can hear the setter’s worry concealed under his playful tone.

“No.” He knows he’s being stubborn, but he’s realized early on that getting help for something like this will never work. _Noya doesn’t deserve a half-assed confession._

 _He deserves everything in the world and more._ He knows it’s a terribly cliche thought to have, but he doesn’t care. What he does care about is the excited boy behind him, exclaiming in joy as he runs back to the store to get another soda-flavored garigari-kun.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He closes his eyes for five seconds then opens them again, expecting the flower to disappear.

It doesn’t.

A half-bloomed camellia lays propped against the side of his shoe locker, nearly camouflaging with his off-white indoor shoes.

“Oooh, secret admirer?” Suga grins, peeking into his locker.

Asahi continues to stare, a million questions surging through his mind. _Did Noya- There’s no way- Did he tell- How did- Who is it?_ His mind dwells on one question, but his anxiety makes him push down any and all hope. _There’s no way Noya would do this. He must have told a girl or someone else..._ The thought makes his shoulders slump as he grabs his indoor shoes. He’s careful not to smash the flower as he pulls his shoes out of the locker, swiftly pulling them on. His hands hesitate on the door before he slams the locker shut with more force than necessary, effectively stopping any teasing that Suga had in store.

“Let’s go,” he whispers, opting to forget about the flower.

Daichi and Suga exchange worried looks before they follow the unusually tense ace to their homeroom class.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

His thoughts are confirmed when there’s no mention of a flower by Noya. Not even a hint; it’s like their conversation yesterday didn’t even happen.

He despairs through the whole practice, his serves and spikes lacking their usual power. Surprisingly, no one calls him out on it.

 _No, it shouldn’t come as a surprise._ He’s been like this plenty of times before; it’s not like it’s the first time he’s ever gotten depressed and had a bad practice.

He accidentally catches Noya’s worried gaze and he quickly ducks his head, but he knows it’s too late. His chest swells with a precarious mixture of joy, anguish, longing, and something all too familiar. He squeezes the volleyball in his hand tightly, forcing himself to focus all his strength into his next serve.

The volleyball hits the other side of the net with a loud bang, startling everyone to attention. Asahi ignores everyone’s stares, especially the scrutinizing gaze of the overly perceptive libero.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The camellias continue to appear, and more frequently now. In his gym locker, inside his desk, on his school bag... He’s nearly convinced that it’s someone in his class, probably a person who likes to garden or works at a flower shop.

He asks Suga if he knows anyone like that. He’s surprised to see a grim frown overtake the usually cheery setter’s face.

“Have you looked up its meaning?”

Asahi cocks his head to the side.

“You know, the meaning of the flower? Hanakotoba?” Suga adds, trying to get his friend to understand.

“Hana... Kotoba?” He knows what the individual words mean, but he’s not sure what they spell out together.

“You’re truly hopeless, aren’t you?” Suga’s frown shifts into a sad smile.

“Here.” Daichi hands him a slip of paper and he hesitantly takes it, squinting down at the small words. He’s never been able to read Daichi’s handwriting. Suga chuckles before gently taking back the paper, transcribing the captain’s unreadable scrawl into neat, curly letters. This time, Asahi can make out the three key words printed on the paper.

‘Yellow camellia hanakotoba.’

“This is as much as we can help you,” Suga mutters, leaning back against his own desk. _It’s better if you figure this out on your own_ , goes unspoken, but the meaningful look received from both captain and vice-captain makes Asahi nod solemnly.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“What do you think my favorite flower is?” Noya asks him out of the blue. The whole team’s still huddled together in the middle of a strategy meeting, but Daichi hasn’t noticed the two distracted players yet.

“Four-leaf clover,” Asahi whispers without hesitation, glancing over at Noya. The libero looks shocked for a few seconds before a soft smile blooms on his face.

“So, am I like your lucky charm or something?” Noya peers up at him with a sly smirk.

Asahi sputters, hiding his blush behind both hands.

“Hey, no flirting during meetings!” Daichi’s scolding shout makes both of them sit up straighter. “Awww, Daichi, you ruined their moment!” Suga’s loud whisper makes the whole team laugh.

Asahi laughs along with them, trying to push down the urge to kiss the contemplating grin off of Noya’s lips.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

‘Y-e-l-l-o-w C-a-m-e-l-l-i-a H-a-n-a-k-o-t-o-b-a’ Asahi types into his laptop. It’d taken him a few hours to mentally prepare himself for this moment, even though he doesn’t know what exactly he’s afraid of.

He clicks on the first website that comes up, sighing when a vibrant photo of a red camellia lights up his screen. He scrolls down, then scrolls back up when he accidentally passes the paragraph about the yellow camellia.

He can’t hold back a full-body blush as he reads the meanings. _Longing desire. Ideal love._

 _This person is either a crazy stalker or... they’re really in love with me..._ He clicks out of the blog, scrolling through the search list again. He reads several more blog posts before he comes to another conclusion.

_Each color has a different meaning...?_

He scrolls up to read about the pink, red, and white camellias.

 _The pink one has a similar meaning to the yellow one. The red one symbolizes love that’s more stronger. The white one..._ He pauses as he reads the meanings out loud.

“Beauty come to completion. Adoration beyond words. Supreme love.” Another blush sweeps over his body as he realizes what his secret admirer might be doing. He closes his laptop, trying but failing to ignore the drying yellow and pink camellias carefully laid out on top of his desk.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

A fully bloomed camellia sits on top of his neatly folded practice clothes, the brilliant red a stark contrast against his white t-shirt. He stares at it for another few seconds before picking it up by the short stem, gently laying it onto his right hand.

 _You’re a flame in my heart._ His chest swells with hidden desire, his eyes ghosting over the other people left in the locker room.

 _Someone must have left this here for the secret admirer._ His eyes sweep over the room again as he tries to pinpoint the culprit.

“Oh, it’s red this time!” Suga’s shout makes him jump back from his locker.

“Did you look up the meaning?” Daichi asks, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. His grip tightens when Asahi tries to pull away.

“Yeah.”

“And...?” Suga leans in closer, waiting impatiently for his answer.

“I still think it’s a girl who works at a flower shop. No one else would know what the flowers mean,” he whispers.

Two exasperated sighs fill the nearly empty locker room. They shake their heads in unison as they let go of their oblivious ace.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“You’re so dense, Asahi-san!” Noya shouts, his voice unusually accusatory.

“What?”

“You’re so weak! You can’t even confess to the person you like!”

“I... I know. What else is new?”

“You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try!”

“But he... you don’t even like-”

“You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try!” Noya’s repeated shout echoes inside his mind as he sits up in bed, his eyes still closed.

 _Dense? Weak?_ He’s been called weak before, but dense? He’s always thought he was more perceptive than others, but maybe he was just desperate to find something he’s actually good at.

 _I haven’t had such a realistic nightmare in a while._ He rubs at his eyes, sighing before slowly rolling out of bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s only six o’clock in the morning when he walks out of his house, determination making his movements more deliberate than usual. He smiles at the old man who jogs past, earning him a friendly nod. His feet take him to the flower shop he’d passed by the day before, his curiosity only increasing as he sees a vaguely familiar figure setting up pots and buckets outside.

“Oh, Azumane-senpai!” the boy greets him.

“Aki-san,” he greets back. He hadn’t expected one of Noya’s classmates to be working at a flower shop.

“Are you here to buy some flowers?”

Something in his tone tells Asahi that the boy knows something the spiker doesn’t.

“Not really.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Has anyone... Did a girl... Do you know if anyone else from our school works here?” He manages to form a coherent question.

“Nope! It’s just me and the owner!”

“Does the owner have any kids?”

“Yeah, but he left for college two years ago. Why?”

“Just wondering.” Asahi mutters, glancing around the shop. The double doors are fully opened, allowing the soft breeze to tousle the longer leaves of the hanging plants.

“Are you sure you don’t want to buy any flowers?” Aki asks, holding out a very familiar flower.

“Has anyone-?”

He’s cut off by two flowers being shoved into his face.

“I’ll give you these for free,” Aki whispers, waiting for Asahi to take them before adding, “please don’t put them to waste.” He doesn’t wait for Asahi’s answer before he strides back into the shop.

Asahi stands frozen for a few minutes, continuing to watch the flowers sway in the breeze.

 _Don’t put them to waste? What does that mean?_ He slowly makes his way back home with a flower in each hand, idly twirling the two stems between his thumb and forefinger.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He doesn’t know what earthly power convinced him to do this, maybe it was the constant urging of his two best friends, or the seriousness in Aki-kun’s eyes, but he’d carefully placed the two flowers into a long rectangular box before hiding them in the bottom of his practice bag. He’s tempted to stuff more clothes around it just in case one of his more perceptive teammates notices the uncharacteristically sharp corners of his bag, but he’s always had a rather empty bag.

He shoulders it over his back, ignoring the sharp edge digging into his hip. He readjusts his bag before making his way toward their usual meeting spot.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He swings down on air, a soft thud following his rather clumsy descent to the gym floor.

“Focus, Asahi!” Suga shouts from where he’d set the ball to him.

“Sorry,” Asahi bows in apology, scratching the back of his neck. It’s the third spike he’s missed in a row, and he can feel the worried gaze of their libero boring into the back of his head.

“Go take a breather,” Daichi suggests, slapping him on the back. Asahi holds back a wince, but doesn’t argue, hurriedly jogging out of the gym.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The soft breeze works wonders to calm his jittery nerves. He clasps and unclasps his hands, trying to make sure they don’t freeze in the winter cold.

“Asahi-san!”

A burst of warmth shoots through him at the familiar shout. “Noya?” he turns toward the voice, only to get a face full of petals. Something falls into his lap and he looks down to see a slightly crushed red camellia sitting on his thigh. When he looks up, the libero is already gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He ignores the curious looks of his teammates as he sprints toward the locker room. He digs into his practice bag, swiftly pulling out the long box. He lifts the lid, carefully picking up the two flowers, one in each hand.

He’s met with two knowing smiles when he strides back into the gym, his hands hidden behind his back.

His eyes sweep over the room before he sees Noya expertly receiving every ball served by the second years. His tongue sticks out adorably as he dives to save a particularly difficult ball.

Ennoshita notices him first and motions for the second years to clear out their side of the gym. Noya looks confused before his gaze falls on Asahi, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks before his eyes widen with curiosity.

Asahi nods over to the gym doors and Noya instantly gets the message, bounding out of the gym without any complaint. Asahi follows after him, the two flowers visible for all his teammates to see. He glances back to see soft smiles blooming on everyone’s faces and blushes when Tanaka gives him a thumbs up.

‘Go get him,’ Suga mouths, smirking at him. Asahi bites his lip before quickly jogging out of the gym.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Noya’s waiting for him by the water faucets, his jittery feet betraying his hopeful smile.

“I... I wanted to give you these,” Asahi whispers, knowing if he stalls, he’ll never gather enough courage to do this again. He reveals the two flowers from behind his back, holding them out towards the nervous libero.

Noya takes the red camellia first, twirling it between both hands. He silently brings the flower to his nose, closing his eyes as he inhales strongly.

Asahi waits patiently, the other flower still held out towards Noya.

After a few seconds, his eyes finally open and glide over to catch Asahi’s gaze.

“Do you know what it means?” Noya asks, motioning towards the white flower in the spiker’s hand.

 _Beauty come to completion. Adoration beyond words._ The phrases echo through his thoughts, but another meaning swirls through his mind.

“Supreme love, _”_ he whispers, letting a small smile bloom across his face.

His smile widens as Noya looks up at him with sparkling eyes, adoration flowing from his excited grin. “I love you, too.”

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Extra:

“So, Asahi-san, what’s your favorite flower?” Noya asks, peering up at him from where his head lays on Asahi's lap. 

“Camellias,” Asahi murmurs, without any hesitation.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a year ago, and found it in my drafts folder yesterday :)  
> I hope everyone finds love and comfort in their life! 
> 
> (Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu!! or any of the characters.  
> Thanks so much for reading! ^o^)


End file.
